National briefs

Judgment day for two Australian businessmen facing bribery charges in Dubai has been postponed by as much as a week. The judgment and sentencing of property developers Matthew Joyce and Marcus Lee had been set down for yesterday, but a public holiday was declared. A new court date is expected to be decided this week. The allegations are linked a disputed property deal in Dubai, involving listed Australian developer Sunland. Last month, the Victorian Supreme Court dismissed related claims by Sunland against Mr Joyce and another property executive, Angus Reed.Nick Lenaghan

Former ABC journalist Sarah Henderson has won preselection for the Liberal Party for the marginal federal seat of Corangamite. Ms Henderson overcame former government policy adviser Rod Nockles at a party ballot yesterday. Labor MP
Darren Cheeseman
holds the south-western Victorian seat by a few hundred votes. On Saturday, tax lawyer Michael Sukkar, a senior associate at law firm Ashurst, edged out favourite John Pesutto, an adviser to Premier Ted Baillieu, to win Liberal preselection for the seat of Deakin, in Melbourne’s outer east. Nick Lenaghan

Foreign Minister
Bob Carr
has continued to urge his counterparts to push for the release of Australian lawyer Melinda Taylor from detention in Libya. Senator Carr said he had sought further international support for Ms Taylor to be released from custody in Zintan overnight at a conference in Istanbul. “We remain focused on every effort that might lead to a swift end to this detention and the release of Ms Taylor and her ICC colleagues," Senator Carr said. AAP